A Piece of Our Mind with Dr. Naila Kuhlmann
This week we’re highlighting another scientist that is blending art with science. Dr. Naila Kuhlmann is a Parkinson’s researcher from McGill University that has found an interesting way to include dance in her work, which led to the creation of the Piece of Mind Collective. She’s also a host of the AMiNDR (A Month in Neurodegenerative Disease Research) Podcast and co-founder of the Green Labs Initiative at McGill. In the news, we’re talking about Dr. Diem’s trip to the White House, medicinal mollusks, and pollen proliferation. It’s another instant classic just waiting for you to listen.
Our Guest:
Naila is a postdoctoral student at McGill, co-supervised by Dr. Stefanie Blain-Moraes and Dr. Aliki Thomas. She obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia, in which she studied the neurobiology of Parkinson's disease in a genetic mouse model. Given a particular interest in dance and circus, Naila dabbled in art-science collaborations throughout her studies, including with Vancouver-based Curiosity Collider and the Convergence Initiative in Montreal. This prompted her to start the Piece of Mind Collective with several enthusiastic, like-minded individuals back in 2018, and to pursue a postdoc in arts-based knowledge translation in 2020. Naila is also co-founder of the "Green Labs Initiative @ McGill", which aims to reduce the environmental impact of research, and a regular host on the "AMiNDR: A Month in Neurodegenerative Disease Research" podcast.
